The present invention generally relates to waste collection. More specifically, the present invention relates to collection of organic waste in a sealed apparatus adjacent a conventional waste receptacle.
Collecting and separating various forms of household kitchen waste is increasingly prevalent, as it reduces the quantity of residential waste sent to landfills. Separated organic waste from cooking and similar activities is typically stored in compost bins. When full, such compost bins may be emptied into a composting apparatus and reused.
Due to frequency of use, compost bins typically reside in or adjacent a user's kitchen, where the user must locate or create a convenient storage space for the compost bin. Compost bins currently known in the art are sized for keeping in a bottom cabinet or may be designed for installation in kitchen walls or cabinets, or those of an adjoining room. Some compost bins are simply placed on a kitchen countertop.
These existing products often take up a large amount of space and may be difficult to keep out of sight, requiring decorative elements to help hide the compost bin or help it blend in with kitchen decor. Other existing compost bins focus on functionality, offering different ways to open the receptacle and discard its contents. Some have features promoting a composting process in the receptacle, with a focus on air flow, a specialized shape, or even a mechanism for churning the organic waste.
Existing compost bins have various shortcomings making organic waste collection for composting a difficult and undesirable process. For example, having any receptacle filled with organic waste exposed on a countertop is undesirable. In some cases, insufficient space is available, and no matter where located, compost bins are messy by their very nature. Due to odors of decomposing organic waste, even after a few hours, compost bins must be lidded to avoid becoming a nuisance. Decomposing organic waste is also wet, thus opening and closing such a receptacle is messy regardless of the care exercised by a user. Larger compost bins maintained in cabinets or in adjoining rooms avoid the unsightly appearance of countertop compost bin, but are inconvenient due to their distance from food preparation areas, and due to their size which can make emptying theirs difficult. Furthermore, many existing products use a substantial amount of plastic or other material, which is counterproductive in terms of resource use and taking up landfill space when discarded.
As with any new technology designed to help conserve resources, a compost bin is more readily adopted if made as easy as possible to install and use. Hence, what is needed is a compost bin that segregates organic waste for composting away from direct contact with the ambient air, which is sized appropriately for quantities of organic waste typically produced in residential kitchens, which can be hidden away but is still located at or near food preparation areas without the limitations of existing techniques, and which is less messy.